By Kyle LoJacono
Hillsborough County residents voted a resounding no Nov. 2 to raising the sales tax to fund a light rail system, which may delay a similar plan in Pasco County.
The Hillsborough plan, which would have also paid for more buses and road projects, could have helped connect all areas of the county to the future high-speed rail system. Pasco government officials were counting on linking to their southern neighbor’s rail route.
“The no vote in Hillsborough will slow things down because Hillsborough is the key to the region because of its size and location,” said Pasco commissioner Jack Mariano.
Pasco’s growth management administrator, Richard Gehring, said the county plans to put a similar transit tax referendum on the ballot for the 2018 midterm or 2020 presidential election. He said how much taxes could rise by and what area or areas the increase would be imposed on is not set.
Gehring said details on how a rail system would roll out are also not set, but it is projected a line of tracks would be built following SR 54. From there it would shoot down to connect with a future Hillsborough system. This would connect Pasco with the future high-speed rail between Orlando and Tampa.
Pasco Economic Development Council president John Hagen said linking with the high-speed rail would help bring business to the county.
“Places like The Shops at Wiregrass could become shopping destinations for places outside of the county,” Hagen said. “It already is for our residents because of everything it has to offer, but with increased travel it could become a regional hub.”
Gehring said most cities and counties put similar initiatives on their ballots several times before they pass.
Right now the county is focusing on building roads to help move people and goods across Pasco. Such projects include the widening of SR 54 in Wesley Chapel and the future Zephyrhills Bypass to help connect the east Pasco city to the rest of the county. However, Pasco commissioners Mariano and Ann Hildebrand both believe the future could be with a rail system.
That rail system’s future is now delayed with Hillsborough residents rejecting the referendum. However, Hildebrand, who is Pasco’s representative on the Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority, came up with a different idea than a one-county vote. She suggests Pasco, Hillsborough and Pinellas counties should think about referendum for the Tampa Bay area counties to pool resources to a rail system instead passing three different ones.
While few in the Pasco government are against the idea of a rail system, one Tampa Bay area group flatly rejects the idea — No Tax for Tracks.
The campaign was started in Hillsborough by a group of people who opposed the county’s referendum. John Hendricks was one of the founders and said he thinks the plan was a bad idea from the start.
Hendricks said Hillsborough’s plan would have only helped the people in the city of Tampa and a couple other outlying areas, but everyone would have had to pay the 1-cent increase on sales tax. He said the group would bring the same fight against a Pasco rail system.
Despite the opposition from the group and the no vote in Hillsborough, it seems the idea of a rail system is far from dead in both counties.
